FIEC Newsletter – 30 June 2026

URC 2026 in Gdańsk gave Ukraine’s recovery a more operational tone. The discussion was not only about solidarity, but about the practical conditions needed to rebuild while the war continues
Construction was visible across the whole agenda. Co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine on 25-26 June, the conference focused on the sectors most affected by Russia’s aggression – energy, critical infrastructure and logistics – while also covering business, local and regional recovery. For contractors this confirms that reconstruction will be shaped by public works, municipal services, housing, energy-efficiency renovation, border and transport connectivity, and increasingly EU-based regulation.Main outcomes for the construction ecosystem
Financing moved closer to delivery. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said Ukraine expected more than 160 agreements worth over EUR 10 billion. The EU announced the first EUR 3.2 billion instalment under the EUR 90 billion Ukraine Support Loan and more than EUR 1.1 billion in new Ukraine Investment Framework financing, including support for municipal infrastructure, affordable housing, healthcare, water management, energy efficiency, energy resilience and strategic industries. The European Flagship Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukraine was also launched, with initial capital intended to mobilise larger public and private investment.

The construction signal is the shift from pledges to bankable pipelines. URC’s Infrastructure Platform addressed transport connectivity – roads, railways, ports and future airports – together with TEN-T integration, energy resilience, digital systems and alignment with EU rules. The EIB Group announced over EUR 470 million for housing, roads, bridges, border infrastructure, water recovery, private-sector growth and implementation capacity. This points to opportunities across public works, social housing, local infrastructure, engineering, energy performance and supply chains, but also to demanding requirements: transparent procurement, credible local partners, risk-sharing tools, war-risk insurance and robust project preparation.

Ukraine’s reconstruction is becoming an EU-linked market, standards and investment agenda, not only a humanitarian response. The European construction sector should follow project pipelines and international financial institution instruments closely, promote transparent and competitive procurement, and support dialogue between contractors, Ukrainian authorities, municipalities, EU institutions and IFIs. The challenge will be to help Ukraine rebuild quickly without locking in outdated assets, making reconstruction safer, greener and more resilient from the outset.

On 24 June, FIEC Vice-President for Environmental Affairs, Stephanos Pierides, took part in a high-level policy discussion on the forthcoming Circular Economy Act (CEA) during the conference “Circular Construction for Competitiveness, Climate and Conservation of Raw Materials”.Mr Pierides stressed that the new legislative framework should strengthen the EU Single Market for Secondary Materials through practical, harmonised End-of-Waste criteria and reduced regulatory fragmentation. He also highlighted the need to stimulate demand through market-based incentives, with public procurement playing a key role in promoting circular solutions. FIEC continues to advocate for a practical framework that boosts the sector’s competitiveness by strengthening regional circular value chains.

Public procurement reform remains a key priority for FIEC. It directly shapes how construction companies can access public works contracts and how Europe delivers investment, infrastructure, housing, climate and competitiveness objectives.In this respect FIEC sent a letter to Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné on the upcoming reform of the EU public procurement framework. The letter focuses on one decisive point: the future EU framework should remain based on Directives rather than be converted into a directly applicable Regulation.

FIEC fully supports the Commission’s objective of simplifying procurement rules and reducing administrative burdens. However, a change in the legal instrument would not, in itself, simplify the system. Replacing well-established national transposition rules with a Regulation could create legal uncertainty, transition costs and additional administrative burdens for contracting authorities, companies and review bodies.

For the construction sector, public procurement rules interact closely with national rules on contract law, permitting, liability, technical specifications, subcontracting, price revision and remedies. Maintaining Directives would therefore preserve the flexibility needed to reflect national legal and contractual realities, while keeping a strong common European framework.

This message is consistent with FIEC’s broader public procurement priorities: fair competition, stronger action against abnormally low tenders, transparent and proportionate rules, balanced strategic procurement, effective price adjustment mechanisms and sufficient autonomy for contracting authorities in the division of contracts into lots.

FIEC will continue to work with the EU institutions to ensure that the upcoming reform delivers practical simplification, legal certainty and fair conditions for construction companies across Europe.

On 26 June, the Advisory Board on Sustainability of our Dutch Member Association of Construction and Infrastructure Companies, Koninklijke Bouwend Nederland, visited FIEC at its premises in Brussels. The exchange focused on key upcoming EU policy developments, including the circular economy, quality jobs, and affordable housing.The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss national experiences and the impact of EU legislation on the business of contractors. Hearing directly from companies is essential to ensuring that FIEC’s work in Brussels reflects the realities on the ground and contributes to an EU legislative framework that strengthens the competitiveness and sustainability of the construction sector.

On 23^rd June, the Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the Regulation aimed at facilitating the electronic declaration of posted workers.The Regulation requires the European Commission to create a multilingual public interface for companies to declare the posting of workers. Member states can choose to use this interface instead of their national systems, but once they opt in, they must exclusively use it without requiring additional declarations.

Information on the postings will be entered in a standard form, together with a common set of information requirements. An annex listing all information requirements is introduced into the regulation and will be incorporated into the standard form.

Striking a deal on this Regulation was a priority for the Council to boost the Single Market and EU’s competitiveness.Twelve types of information would have to be indicated in this standard form for businesses posting workers, and nine for the worker, including the estimated hourly rate of pay and the Member State of social security affiliation. For third-country nationals, confirmation of a valid residence and work permit, or another arrangement of lawful residence and employment in the Member State where the service provider is established, must be provided. Other information must also be provided on the nature of the posting.

As it stands, this provisional agreement is very close to the FIEC requests. Indeed, FIEC insisted on keeping the voluntary nature of the instrument but also on keeping an open list of requirements to be included in the standard form. With the new annex introduced, it seems that the wide range of available requirements can cover most Member States’ enforcement expectations.

This agreement will be submitted for the formal approval of the Member States on 30^th June and around 14-15 July to the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, who were co-leading this file for the Parliament.

According to the latest Pact for Skills Annual report, 10 million people benefitted from up- and re-skilling activities since 2022. The members of the 20 Large-scale Skills Partnerships, including the one for Construction, trained an average of 26% of their employees in 2025. This contributed to the general objective of the Pact for Skills to train 30 million adults by 2030.The report highlights that within the Construction Large-scale Skills Partnership (LSP), members mostly contributed to promoting a culture of lifelong learning for all and to building strong national and regional partnerships. Construction LSP members also identified technical skills and green skills, followed by interpersonal skill, as the main skills needs of the workforce.

FIEC, EFBWW and EBC, as coordinators of the Pact for Skills for construction, are committed to increase the efforts done in upskilling and reskilling, especially through the Construction Blueprint 2 project.

On 23^rd June, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU found a provisional agreement on the 6^th revision of the carcinogens, mutagens and reprotoxic substances directive (CMRD6). They have agreed to maintain the ambition and key objectives of the Commission’s proposal but decided to:

For the construction industry, the main impact of this revision will be on the introduction of welding fumes in the Annex and the new limit value for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

This provisional agreement will now have to be endorsed by the Council and the Parliament, before being formally adopted.